Mc's masochistic tendencies root from his guilt from when ml got hurt in their childhood. Mc is still very much traumatized by that event and we know that bc of how he reacted in the tunnel.
Mc being clingy to ml to the point of being whiny is not an expression of love, but rather, of mc's worry about ml's physical well-being. Mc has expressed worry about ml when he kept going out for some period of time, and he was also in the know about the family business. He has also witnessed ml being violent with others, and ml getting into fights meant that he was putting himself in harm's way as well. I think, that bc the trauma is so big (to the point it is expressed as separation anxiety), it just trumps all the feist and the fight that mc used to have???
Or at least, that's how I'm convincing myself.
We can't deny that Mc holds an affection for ml given their long history, but also, to MC, ML now holds the punisher role, the thing he's been craving all this time, perhaps from ml himself, which is why ml has become that much more important to mc...is what I'm thinking.
If I'm correct, the last chapter I remember was around when the ml laughed hard at the mc in the hallways?? Or the pink hair guy being at the same hotel as mc?? I can't remember which chapter I stopped reading from and I didn't even have it bookmarked
But it's been a while since I finished the main story so I was confused about who was the third couple (for some reason I only remembered the couples in old korea) and then realized it was the ghost king and the modern day shaman. They were my favorite. Ah it's time. It took me some time to realize Sanggil was probably one of the ghosts too, lmao
I started reading from chapter 3 (don't ask why) and only read the beginning after I finished it and wow, it was so weird slowly realizing mc was a minor when I saw him graduating and telling ml he wants to get into uni.
Reading this really clarified something for me, and it's that you should expect noncon/Dubcon to be the norm in omegaverse. In the first chapter, when ml was like "your pheromones made the alphas attack you" was it for me. Can we call it victim-blaming? He was just stating facts of omegaverse. It's true that alphas lose their reason when they smell pheromones. They're like animals at that point. And that was the point I realized that omegaverse characters are sub-human. Humans should never lose reason the way they do in omegaverse, and it's fine to consume omegaverse as long as you have a grounded understanding of that.
Nevertheless I am still disgusted. I always strayed away from omegaverse for a reason that I didn't know until today. I thought it was just about the smut. But uh, it's the very nature of omegaverse that doesn't sit right with me. Regardless, it was good art.
Bc Heewon actually truly fell in love with Muyoung but he's just sick at the core that he can't really help it anymore. So it's not that he can't empathize, it's just that he hurts for Muyoung as well and it's eating him up that's why he thinks it's better to just get rid of his feelings so he can stay in his "fairy tale"
Muyoung is such a sorry case too, because even though he knows how much of a fuck-up Heewon is, he still holds on to the times when Heewon was kind to him, because he didn't have anything/anyone else...and Heewon is to blame for that.
It's amazing to me when the author writes the characters so that they reflect the "what-ifs" of a story. Heewon is still wearing a red stud because it's Muyoung's favorite color. His feelings for Muyoung haven't changed and it will be like that forever. Heewon really could have gotten the fairytale that he wanted with Muyoung if he just let things take its course, but instead of being just the main character in the fairytale, he just had to go ahead and be the writer too. :(
Like I'm sorry about the wording but I need him to accept ml's protection. He's been on his toes for far too long
Sadu won't let Eon fall asleep bc he was afraid he wouldn't wake up again just like the other guy.
I imagine Sadu just sitting beside the other guy's body for hours BRO T_T
ALSO, the possibility that that guy wouldn't have chosen to do what he did if Sadu hadn't left his side for a bit BROOOO
I read the raws but I'm just leaving a comment here for keepsake
It's so interesting to me how the story came across as poignant and vivid to me despite it being mostly black and white. Is it the panelling? The close peering into the characters' point of view? I feel like I've lived at least a day of their lives, like I WAS them. But at the same time I was just an observer, just peering in, watching their the characters sway, bend, break.
It is a story that utilizes a lot of smut; smut just might very well be this bl's selling point, but at the same time, this was more than just smut to me. I feel deeply for both the characters. They're just so beautiful to me, so pure, which, again, is ironic considering the amount of smut.
Idk if this was explained in the translated version, but Myeongdo's name is literally "brightness level" and in that scene the morning after Myeongdo finally admitted his feelings for Cheongok, Cheongok was portrayed against the bright light of that morning. And when they laid back down together, they were both finally in color.
I interpreted that as Myeongdo finally letting down his walls to let light in, and letting the light in means letting the colors show themselves. The colors have always been there. To Myeongdo it was just a matter of seeing them or not. I would argue that he didn't even know that his world was black and white. But that scene was very impressive to me. It was the first time they were both shown in color, the first time they both felt at peace, certain.
This feels like gibberish I don't know what I'm writing. I hope I come back here and edit this after another read (expect two years)
A loyal companion who takes care of all my needs and I don't have to worry if I end up emotionally neglecting them?? Sign me up
I liked it at times: the storytelling in the way it was slow and uneventful, boring but I thought the panelling was tasteful. Those adjectives sound rather negative but I thought it was part of this bl's charm. But then it ended up unfulfilling, a story that's neither hot or cold, a story that didn't know what it wanted to be or one that lost its initial vision. It's so...anticlimactic. Poorly executed. Disappointing.
This was on my Want To Read list for like the longest time and I was just waiting for it to be marked Complete but I guess, that's not happening. I'm glad I read it.
I can see the story as a critique on society. We're knowingly and unknowingly acting to our pre-determined roles prescribed to us by the systems in our society, and I felt the sense of freedom that I think the author was trying to communicate. Breaking free.
They designed such an elaborate background on which this piece of work is set on, and I consider that their attempt on reflecting our real society as it is. We get dealt cards/roles whereas the students find them. We fulfill those roles whether we want to or not, whether we intend to or not, and by the characters choosing to forfeit the game and making it impossible for the game to continue for everyone else, we are reminded that it's just a game. This is the thing that I think the author wanted to relay. Society might have predesribed roles upon us, but we have a choice whether to go along with it or not. We're not completely helpless, and finding a supportive community will help us with self-realization–our attempt to dismiss those predesribed roles and forge our own paths.
That was my take on the theme of the story. Would add to this later.
I have never read a guideverse story (I lied I think I might have read an incomplete one but I don't remember it so it didn't happen) and I'm so glad this is my first one! BUT also, I know I'm putting myself in a spot here because of how good it is that I'm afraid all the others wouldn't fare well to the standard that this one has set! (I also read it in one go just now so forgive me if I maybe excited)
I love this so much. It's so easy to read. It's relatable. And I would probably never say this anywhere else but I love the smut!!! It's so delicious! And I'm not saying that bc it's the full moon but the smut is palatable, meticulous, intentional. I love how careful they are going about it. Too often (and I'm generalizing heavy) smut in bl can feel mechanical, and even overused but I love that it's not the case here (yet).
I really love the dynamics between the characters, how, because of the nature of him as a person, Taegun can't help but spill all his beans to Eunsung (it's thanks to Eunsung's character essence too) and I find that so interesting because we've viewed Taegun from Eunsung lenses which means that we see him as guarded, as the one with the high walls, but ironically enough, by the end of the first season, we know more about Taegun than we do about Eunsung. I wanna give them both a hug.
Also, this is an 8am blubber so I'll keep it short but I really love Eunsung's backlash esp verbal diarrhea lmaooo
I'm really looking forward to season 2!!! I can't wait! <3
But "That's my bitch, only I can devour him" was so good to me idk
I thought it was finished that's why I read it only to find out it's still ongoing. I finished it in 2-3 days?? And there are currently 141 chapters which means I read double of what's uploaded here. Sigh it was a very long read I'm glad I went through that frustration in 2-3 days vs dragged out if I followed the translated updates. I'm still going to read tho. And I'm still rooting for my boy Minwoo outside of the love triangle!
There were times when I tried to read when it was ongoing and I would be put off by the comments complaining or by the trigger warnings. This time I read it in one go and I think it was the best way I could have gone about reading this.
It took me reading the whole thing to realize that the title wasn't just talking about Sooyoung. It was referring to Minhyuk and Taeseung as well. There was that panel after Minhyuk almost killed Taeseung but didn't, and Taeseung and Sooyoung walked off together, Taeseung leaning on Sooyoung even though Sooyoung is the cripple. It occurred to me then. "Ah, this is where it was all leading to."
It was by then, that the main characters could now "walk" or in other words, move on. Minhyuk was stuck on his hatred for the Dragon gang leader and made protecting Sooyoung his sole purpose. Once he realized that Sooyoung and Taeseung weren't parallels of his sister and the dragon, then he could move on. Moving on for him meant stopping, leaving Sooyoung's side as a protective figure.
Moving on for Taeseung meant getting over the fear of proximity. He loved Sooyoung to the point of orchestrating the whole ordeal so that the ending would be Sooyoung moving on with his life without himself in it. Honestly, what could be more selfless than wishing happiness on the person you love while fully knowing you won't be a part of it? I think there was also the idea that Taeseung felt undeserving to be by Sooyoung's side. The nature of him as a person meant danger itself to Sooyoung. Which is why he made all the necessary arrangements to make sure it won't be the case anymore.
Moving on for taeseung also meant that he would finally express his feelings as they were. Man has been in love with Sooyoung from the moment he laid his eyes on him. We've seen Taeseung putting in the effort to make amends.
Lastly, Moving on for Sooyoung meant walking, literally. There was a feeling of being stuck, of waiting on the other person's decisions and not being the one on the lead. He had a lot of realizations through Hansung. There was no need for him to wait to be saved (note how taeseung was always the one coming to Sooyoung's rescue but at the end, sooyoung was the one who saved taeseung from minhyuk?) or heal. He learned to initiate decisions, that he may be weak physically with one limping leg, but that didn't mean he couldn't take charge. Sooyoung running to taeseung's rescue without his crutch was the ultimate visualization of this, imo. Sooyoung making the decision to go to taeseung shows his intention to clarify all the confusion regarding his complicated feelings for taeseung.
Iirc, even before taeseung had ever touched sooyoung, sooyoung had always felt tenderness from taeseung. The only reason that could be, is bc Taeseung had always reflected that tenderness, even though it had been hidden at times.
I want to expound on Sooyoung's feelings but I don't have the words right now. So maybe later.
The "crippledness" represented by these characters can simply be put as brokenness. They were all broken one way or another, wounded by their childhood and their circumstances. But that didn't mean there is no healing, or moving on. I think at the end of the day, this is the message that the author wanted to relay, that we can all heal...we can all "walk".
And as a sidenote, there is no universe in which rape can ever be excused. However, please don't expect that a manhwa dealing with drugs and violence will be "morally correct". Honestly, just take it as the fictional work that it is and go. There's a reason why fictional works with such heavy themes have a disclaimer saying reader's discretion is advised.
I don't know how I will rate this yet as I haven't concluded my thoughts on it but I would definitely read it again!
